The Order disbanded, but was reconvened in 1995 after Harry Potter informed Dumbledore of Lord Voldemort's return. The Ministry refused to admit that the Dark Lord had returned, thus the Order alone worked to protect Harry Potter and the prophecy concerning him and Voldemort in the Department of Mysteries. After a battle occurred there in 1996 between the Order and the Death Eaters, the Ministry admitted the truth.

The Order of the Phoenix was founded by Albus Dumbledore during Lord Voldemort's first rise to power in the 1970s. Dumbledore formed the Order to combat Voldemort's increasing threat and power. Aurors from the Ministry of Magic also joined the Order to participate in more secretive, sudden assaults aimed to crush the Dark Rebellion. Dumbledore created a method of communication among Order members by inventing a way to make Patronuses speak.

The Prophecy

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies...and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not...and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives....the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..."

It was not enough to save them, however; the Potters' Secret-KeeperPeter Pettigrew betrayed them, and Voldemort came to their home in Godric's Hollow on 31 October, 1981. He summarily murdered James, but offered Lily a chance to live, as requested by Severus Snape. She refused, begging for her son's life, and Voldemort used the Killing Curse against her and then on Harry. Because Lily had willingly sacrificed herself out of love for her son, Harry was protected, and the curse backfired. Because Voldemort had made Horcruxes, he did not die, but he lost physical form. He also inadvertently made Harry himself a Horcrux, as a piece of his soul embedded itself into a scar on Harry's forehead.[2] Pettigrew fled the scene and faked his own death by hiding in his Animagus form and cutting off his own finger, while murdering many innocent muggles with one spell, thus Sirius Black was blamed for his crimes, and thrown into Azkaban without a trial[3].

Albus Dumbledore and Severus Snape, who had turned spy for the Order "at great personal risk" prior to Voldemort's fall, suspected that Voldemort would return, and they determined that Harry Potter had to be protected, having Order members such as Minerva McGonagall, Arabella Figg and Dedalus Diggle keep an discreet eye on him throughout his childhood.[2] However, the war was over, and the Order was disbanded. The members were, for the most part, powerful witches and wizards with many other demands on their time, and, if the second incarnation of the Order is indicative, there may well have been internal pressures and uncertainties which, in the absence of a clear, external threat, would make it inadvisable to attempt to maintain the group.

Second Wizarding War

The Order reconvenes

"Time is short, and unless the few of us who know the truth stand united, there is no hope for any of us."

Although Dumbledore and the original members of the Order accepted the return of Lord Voldemort, members of the Ministry of Magic, including Minister for MagicCornelius Fudge, were not convinced. Fudge preferred to believe that Dumbledore was spreading rumours in an attempt to undercut his authority as Minister. Years earlier, there had been widespread support for Dumbledore to take the position, although he declined, choosing instead to remain at Hogwarts. In his early years as Minister, Fudge was constantly bombarding Dumbledore, frantically seeking advice. These actions sowed the seeds of paranoia in Fudge, as he feared Dumbledore would usurp his power. He also accused Dumbledore of "going senile in his old years", and declared that he was clearly mistaken about Voldemort's return.[4] However, some Aurors in the Ministry, such as Kingsley Shacklebolt and Nymphadora Tonks, came to believe Dumbledore and joined the Order in secret.[1]

Under the Ministry's influence, the Daily Prophet portrayed Dumbledore and Harry as either liars or nutters, and thus many members of the wizarding public did not believe in Voldemort's return either. The Order was forced to exist underground and certain members were unable to even greet one another in public, for fear of exposing their allegiances. Voldemort and his Death Eaters took advantage of the Ministry's folly, conducting their business in secret for a year. Among their goals was to obtain a record of the prophecy concerning Voldemort and Harry, which was kept in the Department of Mysteries. The Order kept guard on the area, but were hampered by the Ministry's lack of cooperation.

Several Ministry personnel, including Minister Fudge, entered the Ministry Atrium at the end of this duel, thus seeing Voldemort for themselves. Voldemort Disapparated with Bellatrix, but Fudge was forced to admit that Dumbledore and Harry Potter had been right.[1] He was soon replaced by Rufus Scrimgeour as Minister for Magic.[5]

Guarding Hogwarts

The battle marked the official beginning of the Second Wizarding War. Although Scrimgeour was a more proactive Minister than Fudge had been, he proved to be suspicious of the Order and of Dumbledore as well. He tried to convince Harry Potter to ally himself with the Ministry to boost public morale, but Harry was disgusted by Scrimgeour's high-handed methods and declared his loyalty to Dumbledore and the Order. Over the course of the school year, Dumbledore taught Harry about Voldemort's past and of the existence of his Horcruxes.

In the meantime, the Order kept watch at Hogwarts. However, Draco Malfoy, becoming a Death Eater in place of his incarcerated father, managed to use a Vanishing Cabinet to get Death Eaters into the school, and the Battle of the Astronomy Tower ensued. Dumbledore was cornered by Malfoy, but the headmaster managed to convince the boy to lower his wand, and Severus Snape stepped in to kill Dumbledore. Not knowing that this was a plan Dumbledore and Snape had conceived earlier, nor of the headmaster's medical condition due to the curse, the Order believed that they had been betrayed.[5]

Fall of the Ministry of Magic

"And then, out of nowhere, out of nothing, they were surrounded. At least thirty hooded figures, suspended in midair, formed a vast circle in the middle of which the Order members had risen, oblivious. — Screams, a blaze of green light on every side [...]"

Now under the leadership of Alastor Moody, the Order's next goal was to remove Harry from his relatives' home before the protection offered by his mother's blood expired on his seventeenth birthday. Unfortunately, a number of the simpler solutions to the situation, such as Floo Powder or Apparition were unavailable due to monitoring by the Ministry, which was being infiltrated by the Death Eaters, and Harry, as an under-age wizard, still had the trace on him. The Order also assigned two of its members, Dedalus Diggle and Hestia Jones, to take Harry's relatives into hiding so that they could not be targeted by Death Eaters. Thus, the Order had to fly him out, using six decoys disguised as Harry with Polyjuice Potion. Despite being ambushed by over thirty Death Eaters and Voldemort himself, the Order managed to get Harry to safety at the Burrow, their next headquarters since Snape knew of 12 Grimmauld Place. Sadly, Moody and Harry's owl, Hedwig, were killed in the fray.

Resistance

River (Lee Jordan): "And what would you say, Royal, to those listeners who reply that in these dangerous times, it should be "wizards first"?"

Royal (Kingsley Shacklebolt): "I'd say that it's one short step from "wizards first" to "pure-bloods first", and then to "Death Eaters." We're all human, aren't we? Every human life is worth the same, and worth saving."

While Voldemort controlled the Ministry, the Order members were fugitives. The Weasleys were kept under surveillance and the Taboo curse was placed upon Voldemort's name, since only enemies of the Dark Lord were willing to speak it aloud. Kingsley was nearly caught after saying the name, but managed to fight off the Death Eaters that attacked him and went on the run. The Weasleys were also forced into hiding, after it was discovered that Ron was travelling with Harry, "Undesirable Number 1," in the spring of 1998.

The Order led the underground resistance, participating in the radio programme Potterwatch, which broadcast the truth while the Daily Prophet and other news outlets were controlled by the Ministry. The Order encouraged people to do as they were doing — protect innocent Muggles from being harmed for the amusement of Death Eaters, and Muggle-borns who were being persecuted by the Ministry's new Muggle-Born Registration Commission.

Battle of Hogwarts

"We've only got half an hour until midnight, so we need to act fast. A battle plan has been agreed between the teachers of Hogwarts and the Order of the Phoenix... All right, leaders up here and we'll divide up the troops!"

On 1 May, 1998, the Order received the call to arms from Neville Longbottom, who was left leading Dumbledore's Army at the Death Eater-controlled Hogwarts. With the D.A., the Order of the Phoenix took a final stand against Voldemort and his army. They formulated the battle plan with the professors of Hogwarts, who led fighters to the three highest towers, while Kingsley, Remus Lupin, and Arthur Weasley led troops to the school grounds, and Fred and George Weasley organised the defence of the entrances and passageways into the school.

In mythology, the phoenix often represents resurrection and life after death. This could allude to how the Order of the Phoenix was reborn after Voldemort returned to power, and how Harry Potter survived two Killing Curses. The Order's name thus symbolises their opposition to an organisation focused on causing death and finding unnatural, Dark methods of achieving immortality.

Also in the films, Order members are shown as Apparating in clouds of white smoke, while the Death Eaters Apparate in clouds of black smoke. This may be a reference to the Death Eaters' use and corruption by Dark Magic, causing them to apparate in black smoke, as opposed to the white smoke of the Order members.

Molly Weasley is not stated to have been a member of the original Order, despite her brothers being members. This is likely due to the fact that she gave birth to, and took care of, seven children during the course of the First Wizarding War[9].

In J.K. Rowling's early plot outlines of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (http://chandlermariecraig.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/rowling_outline2.gif) it seems that the titles of the Order of the Phoenix and Dumbledore's Army were swapped - the Order of the Phoenix being the group Harry, Ron and Hermione set up at Hogwarts, whilst Dumbledore's Army being Dumbledore's original army in the First Wizarding War.

↑ 6.06.16.26.36.46.56.6An individual is an assumed member, rather than an ally, when he or she actively participated in an Order of the Phoenix operation, rather than assisting the Order more indirectly or as part of another organisation.